Press feeder



Uited States Patet [72] lnventor William C. Rupp Par-ma, Ohio 21] Appl. No. 639,397

[22] Filed May 18, 1967 [45] Patented Oct. 20, 1970 [73] Assignee The Chandler 8: Price Company Cleveland, Ohio a corporation of Ohio [54] PRESS FEEDER 14 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. C1 101/288, 197/133, 226/76, 226/152 [51] Int. Cl 8411 1/08 [50] Field of Search 101/291,

{56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,331,251 10/1943 Van Tuyl 101/288 2,933,931 4/1960 Lisinski 226/76UX 2 835,489 5/1958 Kroemer et a1. 226/76 2,934,339 4/1960 Davis et a1. 226/76 2,951,438 9/1960 Weingart 101/288 3,181,759 5/1965 Maples 226/51 3,329,325 7/1967 Clark et 211.. 226/153 3,406,628 10/1968 Le Gault 101/288 796,707 8/1905 Clark l01/293X 1,965,578 7/1934 Colquhounv 226/152X 2,011,736 7/1935 Suarez 101/291 2,108,850 2/1938 Fromm lOl/3l6X 2,200,308 5/1940 Sherman Z26/76X Primary ExaminerR0bert E, Palfrey Assistant E.ruminerEugene H. Eickholt Att0rneyOberlin, Maky, Donnelly & Renner ABSTRACT: A continuous forms press feeder for a platen printing press operated by a main shaft, 21 pinwheel shaft for engaging and feeding the work, a drive shaft for the pinwheel shaft driven from the main shaft, a slip clutch on the drive shaft, and a pair of trip levers engaging the drive shaft to hold the latter against rotation, one being released by a rotation of the main shaft and the other being released prior to the one by the relative position of the bed and platen.

Patented Get. 20, 1970 3,534,684

Sheet 1 of 2 INVENTOR W/L L lAM C. RUPP Patented Oct. 20, 1970 Sheet 3 of 2 INVENT OR W/LL /AM 6. RUPP PRESS FEEDER This invention relates generally as indicated to a press feeder and more particularly to a continuous forms feeder for a platen press and the like.

Continuous forms now fairly widely used in machine bookkeeping, such as bills of lading, tax forms, payroll registers. etc., are provided with edge perforations to facilitate the running of the forms through business machines. Certain types of such business forms can economically be printed on platen presses of the type wherein the bed moves toward and away from the platen. The indexing of the forms through the bed and platen must, however, be done in a precise manner and the feeding mechanism must have versatility so that the feed stroke can readily be changed to accommodate different forms. Continuous form feeding for such a press requires both rapid setup and simplified correction for register. Moreover, when sequentially numbering such forms, it is important that the feed stroke not be made unless a printing impression is possible otherwise the sequence of the run will not be proper and, of course, forms will be wasted.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a simplified yet efficient continuous forms feeder for a platen press and the like.

Another object is the provision of such continuous forms feeder for such press having features which assure quick setup and simplified corrections for register.

Another important object is the provision of such continuous forms feeder having a special interlock which will prevent the operation of the feeder in the absence of an impression.

A further object is the provision of a continuous forms feeder wherein the feeding cycle is initiated directly from the main shaft ofthe press which also drives the feeder.

A yet further object is the provision of such feeder including trip means interconnecting the main and drive shafts to initiate one complete revolution of the drive shaft at a predetermined position of the main shaft.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. I is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating a continuous forms feeder for a platen press in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view partially broken away and in section which is taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of the opposite side of the feeder seen in FIG.1 taken substantially from the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the impression automatic stop released.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the press comprises a main shaft 1 which is operative to move the bed shown fragmentarily at 2 toward and away from the platen 3. The press itself may be of a well-known type such as that manufactured and sold by The Chandler & Price Company of Cleveland, Ohio for many years and reference may be had to W. H. Price, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 318,798 dated May 26, 1885 for an illustration of the basic structure of such type of press. Briefly, the main shaft driven by a pair of bull gears is connected to the bed by operating links and the bed itself is pivotally mounted to the base of the press to move toward and away from the platen. The platen in such presses may pivot from a horizontal to the inclined position shown for sheet feeding, but in continuous feeding. the platen may be locked in the inclined position shown. Reference may also be had to the copending application of Edward C. Biron, entitled Press", filed Ian. 19, I967 Ser. No. 610,4l5, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,678 for an illustration of a more recent form of such press.

Mounted on the base 4 of the press by the fasteners illustrated at 5 and 6 are upstanding brackets or side walls 7 and 8 in which are journaled horizontally spaced shafts 9 and I0. The shaft 9 is designed actually to engage and feed the work 5 and in the illustrated embodiment may be termed a pinwheel shaft. The shaft 10 drives the shaft 9 through the gear transmission illustrated generally at 11 and actually comprises two separate shafts with the major portion thereof being piloted into clutch shaft 12 as indicated at I3. The pilot or reduced diameter portion of the major part of shaft I is held to the clutch shaft by set screw I l-mounted in the end hub I ofthe shaft 12 and such screw engages a semicircular clamping sleeve 16 bearing against the pilot end 13. In this manner the two portions of the shaft may quickly be disconnected for relative rotation. If desired, the shafts I0 and 12 may be called drive shaft means.

The shaft 9 is provided with pinwheels I8 and I9 which may be secured thereto by set screws or the like as well as support rolls 20 and 21. The projecting pins 22 of the pinwheels l8 and 19 are designed to engage the edge perforations of the forms being fed. The end of the shaft 9 opposite the transmission II is provided with a knob 23 for manual rotation of the shaft when the set screw 14 is disconnected. In this manner, proper registry can very easily be obtained. The shaft 9 with its support rolls and pin wheels may be termed the web engaging shaft.

As seen in FIG. I, when the shaft 9 is rotated, the work W will be fed upwardly between the bed and platen 3 over the top of the pinwheels I8 and I9 and onto a delivery panel 25 supported between the side walls 7 and 8 on rod 26 by means of the columns 27 with elongated fasteners extending therethrough. From the delivery panel 25, the work will drop onto a delivery table at the foot of the base and since such work may be fan-folded, it will drop in a folded condition. Because of the intermittent operation of the press, it will be appreciated that rotation of the pinwheels must occur intermittently within a portion of the cycle of the press.

Such intermittent drive is obtained by the drive and trip lever arrangement between the main shaft 1 and the drive shaft 10 seen more clearly in FIGS. 1 and 4. The main shaft 1 is provided with a sprocket 30 which, in the illustrated embodiment, has 40 teeth. A drive chain 31 connects the sprocket 30 to driven sprocket 32 which is mounted on the clutch shaft I2 by means of a bronze bushing. The sprocket 32 in the illustrated embodiment may have 30 teeth. Accordingly, the sprocket 32 will be rotating with respect to the sprocket 30 at a speed ratio of 4 to 3, Le. for every threefourth revolution of the sprocket 30 there will be I complete revolution of the sprocket 32.

The sprocket 32 is connected to the clutch shaft 12 by slip clutch 33 seen perhaps more clearly in FIG. 2. As aforementioned, the sprocket 32 is freely rotatable on the shaft 12 by means of a bronze bushing, but on each side thereof, there is provided friction elements indicated at 34 and 35. The friction element 34 is interposed between the sprocket and stop cam 36, the configuration of which is seen more clearly in FIG. 4. The stop cam 36 is keyed to the clutch shaft 12 for rotation therewith. The friction element is interposed between the hub 37 of the sprocket 32 and circular pressure plate 38, which is slidably mounted on and keyed to the shaft 12. Pressure is applied to the plate 38 by a plurality of springs 39 arranged in a symmetrical fashion about the shaft I2 and extending between plate 40 and the pressure plate 38. The plate 40 is secured to the end 41 of the shaft 12 by means of nut 42 threaded thereon. The pressure of the springs 39 against the pressure plate 38 and thus the hub of the sprocket through the friction element 35 may be controlled by the nut 42.

The main shaft I rotating in the direction of the arrow 44 seen in FIG. 1 thus tends to rotate the shaft 10 in the same direction at a slightly higher speed (r.p.m. or angular velocity) and also rotates the work engaging shaft 9 at a still higher speed (r.p.m. or angular velocity) as obtained through the transmission 11 also in the same direction as the arrow 44 as viewed in FIG. I.

One complete revolution of the shaft 12 will obtain the feeding cycle and this will be accomplished within threefourths of a revolution of the main shaft 1. To obtain this single revolution of the drive shaft within the complete revolution of the main shaft 1, there is provided a trip lever 46 pivoted on pin 47 projecting outwardly from the side wall 8. The lower edge of the lever 46 rides against the hub or sleeve 48 adjacent the sprocket 30 on the main shaft 1 and is held in such position by tension spring 49 connected between the trip lever and the side wall 8. The lower end of the trip lever is beveled as indicated at 50 and such end is adapted to be engaged by pin 51 projecting from the sprocket 30. As the sprocket rotates in the direction of the arrow 44, the pin will engage the beveled surface 50 pivoting the lever 46 about the pivot pin 47 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 4 to move the upper flat end 52 of such stop lever from beneath the radially extending stop face 53 of the stop cam 36. This then will permit the shaft I2 to rotate through one complete revolution since as the pin 51 clears the lower end of the tripped lever 46. the spring 49 will hold the upper end of the lever against the periphery of the stop cam 36 so that the radially extending stop face 53 will seat on the upper end 52 of the lever upon one complete rotation preventing further rotation. The complete revolution of the shaft I2 and thus the shaft 10 will drive the shaft 9 through its feeding cycle by means of the transmission 11. All of this, of course, is accomplished within three-fourths of the revolution of the main shaft 1.

An additional trip lever 55 is mounted on the pivot pin 47 immediately adjacent and on the outside of the trip lever 46. A slightly vertically elongated slot 56 is provided in the trip lever 55 permitting slight relative vertical movement between the lever and the pivot pin 47. A tension spring 57 is connected to the lower end of the lever 55 as shown at 58 and extends in an upwardly inclined manner to its connection 59 with the side plate 8. In this manner, the spring 57 not only tends to pivot the lever 55 in a clockwise manner about the pivot 47 as viewed in FIG. 1, but also tends to elevate the lever vertically. The spring 57, of course, holds the upper end of the lever 55 against the stop cam 36.

A bar 61 is pivotally connected at 62 to the outer trip lever 55 only and extends toward the bed 2, the distal end being bent as shown at 63 in FIG. 2. The bar is supported on rod 64 extending from the back of the platen and projecting through slot 65 in such bar. The bar is offset at 66 to clear the drive chain 31. The bent end 63 of the bar engages L-shape bracket 67 adjustably secured to the side of the bed 2 so that as the bed achieves a particular position with respect to the platen 3, the bar 61 will be caused to move to the left as seen in FIG. 1 pivoting the trip lever 55 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed therein. When the bed engages the end 63 of the bar 61, it will push the trip lever 55 out to the position seen more clearly in FIG. 4 wherein the upper end 68 of the lever 55 moves from beneath the stop face 53 of the stop cam 36 and because of the arrangement of the spring 57, the lever 55 will move upwardly or longitudinally to the extent permitted by the slot 56 to be held in such position by engagement of the upper edge of the lever with the periphery of the stop cam as indicated at 69.

The spring and slot thus constitute a means longitudinally to move the lever. An L-shape guide bracket 70 is secured to the wall 8 as indicated at 71 to keep the trip levers 46 and 55 adjacent each other and in proper position to engage the stop face 53.

The lever 55. spring 57, stop cam 36, and bar 61 may be termed a release means.

A press is taken off-impression by a lever which moves an eccentric in the link connection to the bed effectively increasing the length of the link so that the bed will not come into an impression position against the platen. Reference may be had to the aforementioned Price patent for an illustration of the off-impression release lever. If an impression is being made, the bar 61 will kick the release lever 55 to the position shown tsh sss rs.-.

in FIG. 4 permitting the release of lever 46 to advance the drive shaft 10 one complete revolution. If the pressure release lever 55 does not kick out to the position shown in FIG. 4, the engagement of the pin 51 with the lower end of the lever 46 will still not permit the drive shaft 10 to rotate since it is held in position by the lever 55. As soon as the pin 51 clears the lower end of the lever 46, it will simply pivot back into place beneath the stop face 53. The lever 46 from the pivot pin 47 to its top 52 may be about threc-thousandths shorter than the trip lever 55 in its unreleased condition to provide clearance for the lever 46 to swing back beneath the stop face 53. If an impression has not been made and the trip lever 55 has not achieved the position seen in FIG. 4. the next feed cycle will not occur even though the lever 46 trips out. Accordingly, the web will advance only when the press is on impression and the release means is actuated and this ensures proper printing sequence and also avoids wasting high cost preprcparcd forms.

The transmission 1 I seen more clearly in FIGS. 2 and 4 may be used. by changing the gears thereof, to impart different feed strokes to the work varying, for example. from about 3 to about 17 inches. Such transmission comprises a gear 72 secured to the end of the drive shaft 10 by nut 73 which is in mesh with an idler gear 74 which is in turn in mesh with gear 75 secured by nut 76 to the end of pinwheel shaft 9. The idler gear 74 is mounted on a stub shaft 78 by means ofa nut 79, such stub shaft projecting from lever 80 pivoted on pinwheel shaft 9. The inside of the lever 80 is provided with a threaded stud 81 projecting through arcuate slot 82 in the wall 7 and a clamp nut 83 is threaded on the end thereof to hold the lever 80 in proper position. The slot 82 has as its center of curvature the pinwheel shaft 9. Any of the gears of the transmission may thus be readily removed and replaced by means of the nuts on the ends of the respective shafts.

As seen in FIG. 3, the idler gear 74 may be provided with 64 teeth while the driven gear 75 is provided with 32 teeth. The gear 72 may be termed the change gear and the following chart indicates the various form length strokes that may be obtained by varying the number of teeth in the change gear 72:

Form Length, Inch Change Gonr It can thus be seen that there is provided an increase of onefourth inch in form length stroke for each additional tooth in the change gear.

If the idler gear 74 and the driven gear 75 are reversed on the stub and pinwheel shafts, respectively, and, of course, the lever 80 properly adjusted, the following is an indication of form length stroke variations which may be obtained with dif- Form Length, Inch Change Gear It can now be seen that with the idler and driven gears reversed from that illustrated in H6. 3 that there can be provided an increase of one-eighth of an inch in form length stroke for each additional tooth in the change gear. It will, of course, be appreciated that only standard gears are listed in the above charts and that other gears with varying number of teeth may be obtained and provided.

While the illustrated embodiment illustrates pinwheels on the work driving shaft 9, it will be appreciated that rubber covered rolls may be provided running against other spring loaded rolls, for example, providing a nip between which the work is passed so that any type of continuous material, such as foil, plastic, etc., may be fed through the press for a printing or embossing operation. Moreover, a number of such feed units may be provided all driven from the same shaft so that various webs may be fed through the press at once.

It can now be seen that there is provided a highly simplified web feeder for a platen type press wherein the feed mechanism is driven from the main shaft through a complete feeding cycle within less than one complete revolution of the main shaft, and in which an impression interlock or release means is provided ensuring that the feed stroke will not take place when the press is off-impression. The trip pin 51 on the main shaft 1 ensures that the feed stroke will be initiated at the proper position in the press cycle through the simplified trip lever system illustrated Moreover, the horizontal spacing of the shafts and 9 and the position of the shaft 9 adjacent the upper end of the platen 3 permits the operator to reach over the top of such shafts to get at the bed and platen rather than through the side of the press thus providing safer and better accessibility to the press.

lclaim:

l. A web feeder for a platen press of the type having a bed and platen, a main shaft for said press operative to move said bed and platen toward and away from each other to obtain impression, a web engaging shaft adapted to engage such web for feeding between such bed and platen, a drive shaft for said web engaging shaft, transmission means interconnecting said web engaging shaft and said drive shaft, drive means interconnecting said main shaft and drive shaft operative to rotate the latter at an angular velocity higher than said main shaft, trip means interconnecting said main shaft and said drive shaft operative to initiate one complete revolution of said drive shaft at a predetermined position of said main shaft, and release means operated by the relative position of said bed and platen obtaining impression operative to permit said trip means to initiate one complete revolution of the drive shaft, said feeder thus being inoperative when the bed and platen do not obtain impression.

2. A web feeder as set forth in claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a sprocket on said main shaft and a sprocket on said drive shaft, the latter having less teeth than the sprocket on said main shaft.

3. A web feeder as set forth in claim 2 including slip clutch means mounting said sprocket on said drive shaft.

4. A web feeder as set forth in claim 3 wherein said slip clutch means includes a stop cam keyed to said drive shaft, said trip means being operative to release said stop cam for one complete revolution of said drive shaft.

5. A web feeder as set forth in claim 4 wherein said trip means includes a pivotally mounted lever normally engaging said stop cam, and means on said main shaft operative to pivot said lever from engagement with said stop cam.

6. A web feeder as set forth in claim 5 including spring means operative to urge said lever into engagement with said stop cam.

7. A web feeder as set forth in claim 6 wherein said means on said main shaft comprises a pin projecting axially from the sprocket on said main'shaft operative to engage the lower end of said lever to pivot the same against the pressure of said spring Wi 35:

8. A web feeder as set forth in claim 1 wherein, said transmission includes at least one gear on the ends of said web engaging and drive shafts with an idler gear therebetween.

9. A web feeder as set forth in claim 8 including at least one removable fastener securing each of the drive, driven and idler gears of said transmission in place whereby each gear can readily be removed and replaced to vary the rotational speed ofsaid web engaging shaft with respect to said drive shaft.

10. A web feeder as set forth in claim 1 wherein said release means comprises a stop cam on said drive shaft, a pivotally mounted trip lever having one end in engagement with said stop cam, and a bar sensing the position of said bed operative to pivot said trip lever from said stop cam upon a predetermined position of said bed.

11. A web feeder as set forth in claim 10 including means operative longitudinally to shift said trip lever upon release from said stop cam to prevent the same from reengaging said stop cam prior to the completion ofa feed cycle.

12. A web feeder for a platen press of the type having a bed and platen, a main shaft for said press operative relatively to move said bed and platen, a web engaging shaft adapted to engage such web for feeding between such bed and platen, a drive shaft for said web engaging shaft, transmission means interconnecting said web engaging shaft and said drive shaft, drive means interconnecting said main shaft and drive shaft operative to rotate the latter at an angular velocity higher than said main shaft, trip means interconnecting said main shaft and said drive shaft operative to initiate one complete revolution of said drive shaft at a predetermined position of said main shaft, release means operated by the relative position of said bed and platen operative to permit said trip means to initiate one complete revolution of the drive shaft, said release means comprising a stop cam on said drive shaft, a pivotally mounted trip lever having one end in engagement with said stop cam, a bar sensing the position of said bed operative to pivot said trip lever from said stop cam upon a predetermined position of said bed; and means operative longitudinally to shift said trip lever upon release from said stop cam to prevent the same from reengaging said stop cam prior to the completion of the feed cycle, said means operative longitudinally to shift said trip lever including a longitudinally extending slot at its pivot, and spring means operative to move said trip lever longitudinally when released from said stop cam to overlie the peripheral face of the latter.

13. A web feeder for a platen press of the type having a bed and platen, a web engaging shaft operative to engage such web for feeding between such bed and platen, a drive shaft for said web engaging shaft, transmission means interconnecting said web engaging shaft and said drive shaft, intermittent drive means connected to said drive shaft operative to rotate the latter and thus said web engaging shaft through a feed cycle, release means operated by the position of said bed to permit said drive means to obtain said feed cycle, said release means comprising a stop cam on said drive shaft, a pivotally mounted trip lever having one end in engagement with said stop cam, and a bar sensing the position of said bed, said bar when contacted by said bed being operative to pivot said trip lever from said stop cam; and means operative longitudinally to shift said trip lever upon release from said stop cam to prevent the same from engaging said stop cam prior to the completion of a feed cycle, said means operative longitudinally to shift said trip lever comprising a longitudinally extending slot at its pivot, and spring means operative to move said trip lever longitudinally when released from said stop cam to overlie the peripheral face of the latter.

14. A web feeder for a platen press of the type having a bed and platen, a main shaft for said press operative to move said bed and platen, a web engaging shaft adapted to engage such web for feeding between such bed and platen, a drive shaft for said web engaging shaft, transmission means interconnecting drive shaft operative to initiate one complete revolution of said drive shaft at a predetermined position of said main shaft;

said drive shaft comprising two interconnected shafts, and means operative to disconnect said two interconnected shafts whereby said web engaging shaft'may be manually rotated to obtain register of the web with the platen. 

